This invention relates to a loudspeaker employing a ribbon for sound reproduction. In particular, this invention relates to a loudspeaker which may be incorporated into a stereo system or other sound reproduction system.
Briefly, ribbon loudspeakers generally operate by means of vibrating an electrically conductive ribbon between opposite poles of a magnetic system. The sound to be reproduced in the form of electric impulses is applied to the ribbon. The interactions of the magnetic field produced by the electric current and the field of the magnetic system produce vibrations of the ribbon, and resulting sound radiation.
A number of ribbon loudspeakers in the patent literature are directed to improvements in the capacity and quality of sound reproduction. Some of the most recent advances in loudspeakers are directed to improvements in the ribbon and ribbon component. Examples of these latter advancements are provided by spacing the ribbon segments apart in a specific manner, constructing the cross-section of the ribbon to be of a certain non-uniform thickness, and constructing a plurality of sound reproduction ribbons between a plurality of permanent magnets.
A number of other loudspeaker advancements have been directed primarily to the design and positioning of the magnet, such as a disconnected plurality of permanent magnets constructed to form a magnetic system or various specifically shaped magnet structures.
The present invention represents an advancement over prior loudspeakers by virtue of the cooperation between a sound reproduction ribbon and a unique magnetic system design, which in one form results in a bi-directional speaker using a single common magnet structure.